Compiled by PHILIP REID
Fergie's a decent sort and that's why I feel sorry for him
I ACTUALLY felt sorry for Alex Ferguson the other evening. Why, you might ask, would anyone feel a smidgeon of sorrow for a multi-millionaire?
Why feel sorrow for a man who is arguably the greatest manager ever in sport, certainly in soccer, with a relentless pursuit of trophies and a cabinet full of silverware to corroborate his CV? Why feel any sorrow when a Giant has been slain by a David?
The reason is simple: because, even as he squirmed helplessly in his chair with arms folded and his face getting redder by the second, Fergie’s first reaction at the final whistle was to seek out Basel caretaker manager Heiko Vogel with an extended arm.
Call it managerial appreciation or a managerial bond that exists between those who choose to pursue such a profession, but Ferguson’s decency in extending the handshake and a mumble to Vogel spoke volumes.
No doubt, the inside of the Man U dressing room was a different matter.
After all, this is the man who once upon a time furiously kicked a boot into the face of David Beckham, leaving a bloody cut above his eye. All past history, of course! What is it, though, that makes a man or a woman want to be a manager?
The easy answer would be to point to the gravy train that goes hand in hand with some posts, like when Felipe Scolari picked up a reputed €13 million a year in his tenure with Bunyodkor – no, not Barcelona or Real Madrid or any of the game’s giants – in the Uzbekistani league.
But it’s not just about money, as the Philips Sports Manager of the Year dinner in Dublin during the week confirmed where managers like Pat Gilroy, Brian Cody, James Horan, Noel O’Brien and Anne Keenan Buckley – none of whom do their managerial jobs for filthy lucre – were among those honoured with monthly awards.
It might seem a bit ironic that Giovanni Trapattoni, the overall winner, was the only one of the 13 monthly winners not to have actually won any trophy – and, no, the Nations Cup in the summer doesn’t count – en route to claiming the honour. But, in its own way, that was good: it showed an appreciation for the Italian’s ability to make the most out of the talent at his disposal or, even, the talent he has chosen to have at his disposal. Still, on the same day as Alan Kelly picked up the Irish Manager of the Year award on Trap’s behalf, the loneliness of the occupation was exemplified by Ferguson’s plight as the clock ticked down and his side were eventually counted out like a heavyweight boxer who had caught a sucker punch from a flyweight. Fergie, the greatest manager of them all, was helpless.
Of course, calling someone like Ferguson the greatest sports manager ever is a subjective thing. What of Helenio Herrera and his idiosyncratic management style? Or Brian Clough? Or American football’s legendary coach Vince Lombardi? Or basketball coach John Wooden? Or hurling’s Cody? Or Gaelic football’s Mickey Harte? Or Declan Kidney? Or Graham Henry?
An insight into the world of management was once delivered by the Green Bay Packers quarter-back “Bart” Starr, who revealed what Lombardi told his men in the dressingroom before a match. “He said, ‘Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it because in the process we will catch excellence’. He [Lombardi] paused for a moment, got up even closer to those of us sitting up front, looked us in the eye and added, ‘I am not remotely interested in being just good’.”
Answering the call to become a manager/coach of a team is one that appeals to different people with different personalities. There is no right or wrong way to manage a team, although the yardstick to judge success and failure usually revolves around silverware. This applies to a county championship or schoolboy league as much as it does to a Champions League or Heineken Cup or World Cup.
A manager’s job is to get the most out of his players, to make a squad better than they previously were. This is what Trap has done with his Republic of Ireland team. And it is what Ferguson has done time and time again with different squads of players built up over his years at Old Trafford. But he was let down in Basel.
This time, I think it was okay to feel sorry for a decent man.
Caddies reveal cheating is rife
STEVE WILLIAMS’s behaviour in recent times – most especially his racist remark about Tiger Woods – didn’t exactly do the image of caddies on tour much good. Still, it would seem many bagmen have taken the high moral ground in a study conducted for the January issue of Golf magazine where more than half of them claim to have witnessed a player cheating during a US Tour event.
Cheating in golf, as we all know, is abhorred. It is drilled into every golfer from the time they first swing a club that cheating of any kind is a strict no-no. Yet, 54 per cent of caddies – surveyed under the guarantee of anonymity – claim they have witnessed cheating during tournaments which conflicts with the long-held image of integrity in the sport.
As one caddie remarked, “you see guys trampling down the rough behind their ball with a three-wood and then hitting a nine-iron out”. Another caddie claimed that one player (unnamed) had a reputation for marking his ball illegally.
“The way he marks his ball, he’ll turn a 23-inch putt into a 21-inch putt, which is huge psychologically,” said the caddie.
The survey wasn’t just about cheating, however, and the results were interesting: 78 per cent admitted to making over $100,000 a year; 26 per cent claimed they were under paid for what they do; 50 per cent felt that Williams was over-rated, and 46 per cent admitted that Tiger Woods in the Masters at Augusta National was the dream bag in a major championship. One other tit-bit emerged from the survey. No fewer than 52 per cent of caddies claimed to have been “hit on” by female fans at tournaments.
Stynes continues to inspire
IN HIS ongoing battle with cancer, Jim Stynes, the former Gaelic footballer turned Aussie Rules Hall of Fame inductee, continues to be an inspiration.
Since being diagnosed with the disease, the Dubliner – who won an All-Ireland minor medal in 1984 before forging an Australian Rules career with Melbourne that saw him make a record 244 successive appearances for the club and also win the Brownlow medal – has undergone a number of operations whilst all the time continuing in his position as president of Melbourne.
His latest operation took place on Thursday, after which a page posted on a Facebook page went: “Update on Jim – Jim has just come out of surgery for the removal of a brain tumour and is in recovery. Prof Rosenfeld who performed the surgery is ecstatic saying they got a big removal/clearance rate on the tumour without any damage. All in all, looks like a big success. Sam [Stynes’ wife] is by his side as usual. Thanks to everyone for your well wishes and prayers. We all love you big guy.”
Apart from social media sites, Stynes’s enduring popularity Down Under can be gauged by the volume of updates on Australian television and radio stations and in newspapers.
Earlier this week, before being brought in for the operation, Stynes made a public appearance to pass on his famed number 11 jersey to Mitch Clark, a new recruit to the club.
At the handing over of the jersey in front of the entire Melbourne squad, Stynes revealed that a change in medication had reduced the size of the tumour and the decision to have further surgery was like an early Christmas present. “I thought we were kind of done and dusted. But they’ve decided that there’s something else they can do, so I’m going to go in and have another brain operation and hopefully that will give me a bit more time,” he said.
THE FINAL STRAW
Varadkar faces a busy
sporting summer
WHEN LEO Varadkar announced on radio the day after his appointment as Minister for Sport that his main sporting interests were cricket and in playing a bit of something called tip rugby, there were a great many eyes raised to the heavens by those in the wider sporting community.
In fairness to the man, in cahoots with Minister of State Michael Ring, Varadkar has done his best to raise the profile of sport within Government circles.
So much so that he has held discussions with Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn about the possibility of introducing sport as an exam subject on the Junior Cert curriculum.
What’s more, his GAA interests have expanded from supporting the Dubs – complete with jersey – to watching St Brigid’s competing in the Leinster club championship against Portlaoise last Sunday.
He faces a busy summer next year, what with the Olympics, the Euro 2012 Finals, the Six Nations and Dublin’s defence of Sam. And, surely, a cricket match or two thrown in along the way for good measure.
Annalise keeps up rich Olympic tradition of Murphy name
What’s in a name? Well, it would seem that the extended Murphy clan will be well represented in Irish colours at next year’s Olympic Games in London after the quite brilliant qualification performance of Annalise Murphy in the World Championships in Australia in recent days.
Annalise becomes the third Murphy to qualify for the Irish team for the London games, following on from Gráinne Murphy and Barry Murphy getting the A qualifying times in swimming. Quite appropriately, the Murphy name derives from the Christian name Murchadh –
meaning “sea battler”. And the Olympic connection with the Murphys and water sports has previously reaped medals. At the 1972 Games in Munich, John Murphy – representing
the USA – won a gold medal in the 4x100 metres freestyle relay and a bronze in the 100m backstroke.
